Many firearms are available which incorporate a magazine capable of feeding ammunition directly into the chamber of the weapon. Among these are found firearms with detachable magazines and firearms with integral magazines. Firearms with detachable magazines provide the capability of rapidly reloading or changing to a different type of ammunition. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,943.
Firearm weapons with integral magazines generally require that the magazine be reloaded one round at a time once the initial store of ammunition is exhausted. Alternatively, single rounds are fed directly into the receiver by hand in order to maintain continuous firing. Typical of weapons with integral magazines is the pump shotgun whose magazine, due to the size of the shotgun shell, cannot accommodate large amounts of spare ammunition. In situations where numerous rounds must be fired, the user of the weapon often carries spare rounds in pouches or contained in ammunition belts. However, it is sometimes desirable to reduce the delay between the expenditure of the final round of ammunition contained in the integral magazine and the transfer of secondarily stored ammunition into the chamber. Under these circumstances, optimally, the reserve shells are presented at the shortest distance from the receiver and in proper orientation to be inserted. It is also considered desirable to enable this operation to be performed with one hand, while retaining the other hand in position ready for firing the weapon.
Furthermore, it is sometimes desirable for the user of the weapon to carry it unloaded while providing the capability of rapid chamber loading.
It is also considered desirable to provide rapid access to different types of ammunition which can be utilized in the same firearm, so that the appropriate choice can be made as the target is presented.
In order to provide the above benefits, while retaining the simplicity of an ordinary gun stock, it is desirable to minimize the number of additional parts and to avoid the use of accessory features which must be employed to store the ammunition.
Numerous ammunition storage devices are known which fail to provide the features outlined above. Among these are U.S. Pat. Nos. 746,859; 1,099,992; 1,517,420; 1,526,847; 2,476,355; 2,495,977 and 3,638,344.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ammunition storage magazine which provides rapid access to stored ammunition.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a magazine which allows the user to insert and remove ammunition with one hand.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an ammunition storage magazine which requires few moving parts.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an ammunition storage magazine which allows ready differentiation between different types of stored ammunition.